Greetings Polydidacts.
I am writing today from a place of comfort; literally and mentally. I am lying in a warm bed, reclined up against a wall of pillows which cushion my back.
I wanted to talk about revelation; not the book, but the act of receiving divinely inspired word and commandments.
The magical thing about revelation, is that God does not just minister to the most pious among us: prophets and saints, but to all believers who are firm in faith. Thus, every believer is capable of receiving revelations from the Lord. In fact, one does not even necessarily need to be a believer; if you are an atheist, God will still communicate with you and attempt to nudge you in the right direction. You may notice signs that he is reaching out to; perhaps an increase in synchronicity (a so-called ``alignment of the stars") in your personal life; a strong message that you are on the wrong path, and an indication of how to return to the right one.
The thing about revelation is that it is an incredibly personal and private thing, most of the time. John 15:18 reads "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." Now, I don't mean to imply that skepticism comes from a place of hate (not at all~!), but it is true that those who hate you generally either do not want to hear what you have to say, or are out to mock and ridicule you. Even those with well-meaning intentions may doubt the veracity of your revelations. It is for this reason that Joseph Smith kept quiet for 10 years after his famous vision in the woods.
Now, how do we distinguish personal revelation from our own biases and wants? Sadly, I don't think there is one straightforward answer here. Us humans are mired in delusion, cognitive biases, and are notoriously self-serving. But, we can work to overcome these biases by actively recognizing them and considering what our mental and spiritual life would be like without them. Further, we can seek to be less self-serving by giving time to charity.
Charity
When I first started becoming more charitable, I focused on material things: money, giving food to the homeless, etc. Of course, this does help, and one of the simplest things you can do is pay your tithe. If you don't have an income of your own, which does happen in some relationships, then you are actually already a full-tithe paying member.
Over time, I slowly started to realize that there is actually more we can do to help beyond the pale of the physical. Actually, it may even be more helpful to focus on the less tangible things. We can minister to others, share our own personal truths and revelations, keep each other on the right path, etc. But, we don't even have to do any of that to help. Something as simple as talking to someone could make their entire day, or even be saving their life.
I remember one Sunday at church, I gave a testimony about the importance of having a church; a family here on Earth that can do the work of God. Yes, we can turn to God all we want, but it does help a lot to see that there are actually people out there who care about you. My family has been helped so many times and so generously by the church that I can say these things authentically.
Later that day, after I had given that testimony, someone came up to me, nearly in tears and said "you don't know how much that means to me." That's the thing - you never know just how much you might be helping others by doing something that seems so simple.